


[S] Equius: Remember

by kankrisredsweater



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Dream Bubbles, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-10
Updated: 2013-08-10
Packaged: 2017-12-23 01:30:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/920415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kankrisredsweater/pseuds/kankrisredsweater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As he struggled for air, all he could see in his mind was her overlarge green eyes. <em>“You had better believe I will see you again soon, Equius!”</em> she had promised him. And he had promised her.<br/>-<br/>Based on my friend's and my headcanon of how Equius and Nepeta were reunited in the dream bubbles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	[S] Equius: Remember

There was only one thought in his mind, running on a constant loop.

It wasn’t the pain. He was used to that. He didn’t much mind the throbbing, pulsating ache at his knee. He was strong. He would recover.

He wasn’t afraid for himself, even though the highblood was slowly advancing. This was right, this was as it should be, he was of a lower class and the highblood had every right to punish him so. He would have been resigned to his fate. He might have even enjoyed the thick horsehair bowstring that was wrapped slowly, almost lovingly, around his neck.

He wasn’t afraid for himself.

But he was absolutely terrified for _her_.

She was hiding. She was safe. She would be safe as long as she listened to him. He had never wanted anything so badly as to keep her safe.

As he struggled for air, all he could see in his mind was her overlarge green eyes. _“You had better believe I will see you again soon, Equius!”_ she had promised him. And he had promised her. He was choking, sputtering, either from imminent asphyxiation or the rapid panic that was quickly rising in him.

This was wrong. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. He was supposed to protect the team, he was supposed to protect _her_. But it was too late and the highblood’s bowstring was restricting his air and it was completely his fault.

_I hope you’re hiding, Nepeta. I hope you’re safe, and I hope you can hold on a little longer._

_I’m so sorry_.

He stopped struggling.

~

Equius Zahhak stood in his respiteblock. Piles of steel and wiring sat in corners; the otherwise open floor was strewn with shattered bows and arrows. He found one intact and picked it up. Perhaps this time he might succeed. Equius nocked an arrow and drew back. To his dismay, the bow snapped. With a frustrated huff, he discarded it on the floor with the others.

“Aurthour?” he called. His centaur-butler lusus appeared almost immediately, mustache groomed to perfection and offering a glass of cold lusus milk. Equius gave him a grateful pat on the head, wincing at the grayish bruise that spread upon impact. He frequently forgot his own strength. However, Aurthour didn’t seem to mind; his lusus had chosen him, after all, and Equius held a great deal of respect for his stalwart guardian.

Equius dismissed Aurthour and turned on his heel. To his surprise, he noticed a quick flicker of movement from the corner of his eye.

Equius squinted warily. With his lusus gone, the respiteblock should be completely empty. But there it was again, the quick swish of... was that a tail?

“Hello?” Equius demanded, his voice loud and strong.

A figure emerged from behind a pile of robotic chasses. She was short with cropped black hair and wearing a jacket that was far too big for her. Her face was drawn in an inexplicably sad expression.

“Nepeta? I must ask, what are you doing here?” he inquired. It wasn’t that he was unhappy to see her – she was his moirail, after all – but he was a little bit confused as to how she got into his hive in the first place.

“Do you remember?” she asked softly. She appeared to be drinking in his entire appearance, as if not completely sure he was there.

Equius frowned. “Do you feel okay? You are usually much more rambunctious than this. I will even roleplay with you, if it will help you cheer up.”

“I’m happy, Equius,” Nepeta breathed. She hadn’t moved from her spot beside the robot pile, and she was twiddling her fingers nervously. “I am so happy, I can’t even explain it.”

“Where are your cat puns, Nepeta?” Equius asked. “I have never heard you pass up the chance to use the word ‘purr-fect’ in a conversation. Tell me, are you feeling all right?”

“Do you remember?” Nepeta asked again.

“Remember what?” Equius demanded. Nepeta was acting quite strange, and now that he got a closer look at her, she appeared a little strange too. She almost didn’t look solid, but she wasn’t quite ethereal either. Her movements were a bit too fluid, as if his focus had been increased tenfold. And now that Equius was paying attention, everything in his respiteblock seemed much too deliberate. The colors were too rich and the atmosphere was too serene.

Equius blinked and saw large yellow eyes. Evil eyes. Murderous eyes.

“What was that?” he asked angrily. “What is happening to me?”

“We are in a dream bubble. You’re remembering,” Nepeta explained softly.

Equius blinked again. He suddenly felt incredibly short of breath. Something scratchy and tight was digging into his neck. He clawed at his throat instinctlvely, letting out an indignant roar. He closed his eyes again.

His own body was sprawled unceremoniously on a concrete floor. Two ends of a broken bow were attached to a long, thick bowstring that had coiled around his neck. His face was an unpleasant shade of blue and he had the weirdest half-smile on his face.

The highblood towered over his lifeless corpse, a grotesque smirk on his lips. Those horrifying yellow eyes were pointed at a grate in the wall. Equius could just make out two terrified catlike eyes glimmering behind the grate.

Then everything went white.

Equius’s eyes snapped open again. He rubbed his own throat absentmindedly.

“Was that... am I... What the hell was that, Nepeta?” Equius spluttered, forgetting even to ask pardon for his foul language.

“That is in the past,” she said soothingly.

“So I have been slain,” Equius prompted, although it was more a statement than a question. Nepeta’s head drooped. Two olive-tinted tears landed on the floor of Equius’s respiteblock.

“And if you’re here, then... were you also...” Equius dared not finish the question. Nepeta was hidden, she wasn’t supposed to have been caught—

Her apologetic look was enough of a confirmation for him. Equius sunk to his knees, rattling the foundation of his hive. He buried his face in his hands, shaking violently. He was supposed to protect her. His moirail, the one troll who put up with him, and he had let her down.

Two small hands rested on his shoulders. Equius looked up and his eyes met sparkling green ones.

“I told you I’d see you again soon, Equius,” Nepeta said with a small smile.

Equius let out a strangled sob and wrapped her in a hug. His embraces were usually overwhelming to her, but this time she gave a watery chuckle and rested her head on top of his, letting him pull her closer to his chest.

“I should have been there to save you,” Equius murmured, his voice a low rumble. “I should have stopped him from finding you.”

 “I watched him... and you... and I didn’t know what to do,” Nepeta confessed. Other trolls often accused Equius of being emotionless, but his bloodpusher hurt terribly as he listened to her talk.

“But I attacked him, Equius! I got him real good, right across the face!” She said earnestly. Equius laughed in spite of himself and hugged her tighter.

“That was so very foolish of you,” he whispered into her shoulder. “So very foolish. And as your meowrail, I should have been there to stop you from partaking in such a reckless risk.”

“Did you just say meowrail?” Nepeta asked, ears perked up in a very feline expression.

“No,” Equius grunted.

“You so did! I have been trying to get you to call us that for _years_!” She squealed happily.

“Why are you so enthusiastic?” Equius demanded. “Why are you not incredibly angry with me for not being there to stop you?”

“I don’t need to be angry anymore,” Nepeta said, smiling down at him. “I have the best meowrail in the whole wide world, and I’m never going to let him out of my paws again.”

Equius knelt on the floor of his semi-surreal respiteblock, clinging to his best friend and better half. He had no idea where he was or what was happening, but he knew that as long as Nepeta was with him, she would keep him strong.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [Amanda's](http://sicknastybiznatch.tumblr.com) and [my](http://twinklyyherbert.tumblr.com) headcanon of how Equius and Nepeta were reunited in the dream bubbles. It's a little short, but that's okay. There can never be enough meowrails fluff. Never.


End file.
